A devastating hit-and-run accident on the Tundla Road near the Churthara turn in the Awagarh area of Etah district claimed the lives of three cousin brothers late Friday night. The young men were traveling on a single motorcycle from Firozabad to their ancestral village to attend their grandmother’s Shradh ritual when a speeding unidentified vehicle collided with them head-on.
According to official police reports, the fatal impact was severely compounded by the fact that none of the youths were wearing helmets. Two of the riders, identified as 18-year-old Karan and 20-year-old Sumit, were crushed by the vehicle and died on the spot. The third victim, 19-year-old Ashu, sustained critical injuries and was rushed to the Etah Medical College, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The sudden tragedy has plunged two struggling families into profound grief, permanently altering their lives. Ashu, an 11th-grade student residing in Mumiya Kheda village of the Nidhauli Kalan area, had traveled to Firozabad a few days prior to visit his extended family. He was returning home alongside his cousins for the sacred Pitru Amavasya rituals when the disaster struck. The loss of Karan and Sumit is particularly devastating, as both young men were unmarried and served as the sole financial pillars for their heavily impoverished families. Having lost their fathers years ago, both were forced to abandon their education during childhood to take up manual labor; Karan worked tirelessly in the local bangle industry, while Sumit earned a meager living through heavy loading work to sustain his household.
Local law enforcement responded promptly to the heart-wrenching incident, securing the accident site and initiating immediate legal proceedings. Jalesar Circle Officer (CO) Gyanendra Pratap Singh confirmed that the police have officially registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the unknown driver based on a formal written complaint filed by Ashu’s grieving mother, Neetu.
The authorities handed over the bodies of the three youths to their devastated relatives following the completion of comprehensive post-mortem examinations. Multiple police teams have now launched an intensive investigation, setting up barricades and utilizing local surveillance to track down the fleeing vehicle and bring the absconding driver to justice.
